50 Voices
ROSHNI & JOYCE
50 Voices captures the authentic voice of the people that use our services and our staff as Turning Point celebrates its 50th anniversary
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre Since opening in June 2012, the Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre has been committed to providing a range of excellent quality NHS services for the local community. The centre offers doctor and dentist surgeries, a sexual health clinic in addition to wellbeing and community services. The Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre goes beyond simply treating medical conditions but also strives to address physical, mental and social wellbeing. Peer mentoring, coffee mornings and wellbeing coaches are all a part of the wellbeing service. Wellbeing coaches are healthcare professionals who support and guide service users in identifying their goals and managing their concerns in order to achieve a better state of wellbeing. *Roshni has received support from Turning Point’s Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre (ECHWC) from September 2013 until November 2013, where she attended wellbeing coaching sessions.
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
How and why were you referred to Turning Point?
My lack of self-confidence was preventing me from doing my best at work
As a health trainer in Earl’s Court, I picked up a leaflet on the wellbeing coaching service at the Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre when I was visiting one of my clients. My lack of self-confidence was preventing me from doing my best at work and even though I had previously tried a number of different things to help increase my self-confidence and consequently my wellbeing, unfortunately I found that nothing helped me. After reading the leaflet I decided to contact the wellbeing coach.
In what way did you hope Turning Point would be able to support you? As English is my second language, I hoped the wellbeing sessions would help me achieve my main goal of gaining the confidence to be able to speak in public and also be assertive enough to write and send work related emails in English.
How were you feeling before you came to Turning Point? Before receiving support from the wellbeing coach sessions at ECHWC, I was suffering from incredibly low self-confidence which was impacting my ability to perform to my best ability in my role as a health trainer. Even though I could have conversations in English and work well with clients, I still consistently doubted my ability to write coherently in English as it isn’t my first language. Because I had such poor self-esteem, I often used to procrastinate when having to send emails and I’d make excuses so that I didn’t have to give presentations such as pretending that I was feeling unwell. I used to ask colleagues to give them on my behalf instead.
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
What’s the biggest difference between your life pre-Turning Point and post-Turning Point? The biggest impact in my life after seeing the wellbeing coach is that I have learned to not only be myself but also to accept myself.
The biggest impact in my life after seeing the wellbeing coach is that I have learned to not only be myself but also to accept myself. I feel like I received 100% of the coach’s time and attention which made me feel important. With the help of the sessions, the wellbeing coach helped me to understand myself better and realise that making a mistake is not the end of the world. Having someone who believed in me for the first time meant that I finally began to believe in myself and my abilities. I believe I benefitted so much from the wellbeing coach service provided by ECHWC that I have since referred some of my clients as well.
Has your time at Turning Point led to any other opportunities? Through the support that I received from my wellbeing coaching sessions, I decided to change my working pattern from full time to part time which has given me a better work/life balance and consequently an improved sense of wellbeing. Working part time has given me the opportunity to show my entrepreneurial skills by working for myself part-time. With my new found confidence, I am very excited about this new venture.
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
Sixty year old *Joyce attended wellbeing coaching sessions from the Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre between July 2013 and January 2014.
How were you feeling before you came to Turning Point? When I first came to Turning Point, I was suffering from a digestive disorder and a chronic lung condition which still hadn’t been diagnosed and was causing me painful and persistent coughing.
How did you feel about turning to Turning Point for support? Initially I was reluctant about turning to Turning Point for support as I was told by the Hammersmith and Fulham Job centre that I had to attend the wellbeing coach sessions in order to continue receiving my benefits. I felt hesitant about the support that the Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre (ECHWC) could offer as I doubted how the wellbeing coach sessions would help me. Instead I feared that the wellbeing coach would do everything they could to get me back into work even though I was still feeling too ill to return.
In what way did you hope Turning Point would be able to support you? I hoped that the wellbeing coach would support me on my journey to coping with my illness better and learning how to manage my condition so that I could actually have as sense of wellbeing and finally enjoy a good quality of life.
What aspects of Turning Point were particularly impactful for your journey to recovery? I’d say the talking therapies became particularly impactful for my journey to recovery as well as some other alternative therapies as I’ve now become more aware of them. I think now I have a better understanding of how these therapies can be fundamental in helping me to achieve a sense of wellbeing.
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
How did your wellbeing coach support you through your journey to recovery?
My wellbeing coach provided me with psychological as well as emotional support and it was great to feel that I was really being listened to.
My wellbeing coach provided me with psychological as well as emotional support and it was great to feel that I was really being listened to. In the past I used to feel that GPs and consultants were rushing me out the door after discussing my problems and concerns with them. To be honest it seemed as though they didn’t have any time for me and I was often told that they couldn’t do anything to help me. This was a completely different experience to my wellbeing coach sessions. Although I had initially been quite angry and hostile towards the wellbeing coach, this changed when I realised how supportive and understanding the wellbeing coach was with me.
Has your time at Turning Point led to any other opportunities?
The support from the wellbeing sessions has helped me to understand myself better, what is therapeutic for me and how I can help myself.
50 Voices
Roshni & Joyce
The support from the wellbeing sessions has helped me to understand myself better, what is therapeutic for me and how I can help myself. During a particularly bad bout of illness in January this year which left me very fragile, I found that writing poetry was very liberating. I’m now looking towards writing more poetry and also doing more art work and reading books to give me a greater understanding of my condition.
What’s the biggest difference between your life pre-Turning Point and post-Turning Point? The support I received in my wellbeing coaching sessions was extremely valuable for my wellbeing as the sessions have allowed me to understand the difference between being ill and feeling well. Now I’ve learned new coping mechanisms to deal with my illness which has enabled me not to view it as a debilitating disease but as a journey of exploration which will take me to different places.
What differences have you noticed in yourself since receiving support from Turning Point? Since receiving support from Turning Point, my outlook has greatly improved. After experiencing how supportive the wellbeing coach has been I’ve let go of the belief that no one can or will understand my condition nor be able to support me. This is how I used to feel before as no one was able to give me neither a conclusive diagnosis of my condition, nor a suitable treatment. However my perspective of others has changed, now I think I give people a chance to see if they can help me before I assume that no one will be able to. I’ve also learned to be more open about discussing my illness with friends and by doing so I have been given recommendations about different books to buy and websites to visit that offer helpful health advice. I think that the wellbeing coaching from ECHWC has helped me to understand that on the road to recovery, receiving support from healthcare professionals is just as important as being pro-active and helping myself. *Name changed for privacy concerns
50 Voices
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